The versatile conductor Mark Shapiro enjoys working with orchestras, opera companies, and choruses. Dr. Shapiro is the Artistic Director of Cantori New York and the Monmouth Civic Chorus. He is Associate Conductor of the verismo opera company Teatro Grattacielo, and a regular Guest Conductor with the Nova Sinfonia chamber orchestra of Halifax. He is a faculty member of Mannes College The New School for Music, and teaches classes in Music and Science at The New School.
With Cantori New York, Dr. Shapiro has made several commercially-released CD’s, one of which, Frank Martin’s oratorio Le Vin Herbé, was awarded Editor’s Choice in Opera News Magazine and the highest rating in the Penguin Guide to Compact Discs. Shapiro and Cantori have won two ASCAP Awards for Adventurous Programming, and support from foundations including the National Endowment for the Arts. Cantori’s appearances include have included Lincoln Center’s Great Performers Series and the World Financial Center Arts & Events. Notable collaborations have included the Prism Saxophone Quartet, the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, and Michael Tilson Thomas, who conducted Cantori at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Hall during its inaugural season.
Dr. Shapiro’s credits as an instrumental and opera conductor include the Cygnus and New York Art Ensembles, Works & Process at the Guggenheim Museum, American Opera Projects, the Banff Centre, the Metro Lyric Opera, and PBS, where he was heard conducting the soundtrack for Ric Burns’ special on New York City. Albany Records recently released his recording of Michael Dellaira’s opera Chéri, featuring Marni Nixon.
At Mannes College The New School for Music in New York, Dr. Shapiro has taught orchestral and choral conducting, conducted opera performances, and led the Mannes Chorus, which appeared under his direction at the United Nations. He created and currently oversees the Mannes Repertory Vocal Ensemble. A perennial presence at the Messiah Sing-In in Avery Fisher Hall, Shapiro maintains a coaching studio in New York, where he has played sessions for Renata Scotto and Luciano Pavarotti.
A summa cum laude graduate of Yale University, Shapiro holds diplomas in orchestral conducting from the Ecole Normale de Musique in Paris, and the Peabody Conservatory, where his teacher was Gustav Meier. Shapiro subsequently earned a doctorate from Stonybrook University.
